Yavuz Travels
Oregon coast at sunset with volcanic sea stacks, Pacific Ocean waves, and dramatic cloud formations
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Oregon: Coast and Cascades

Old-growth rainforest, volcanic peaks, a wild Pacific coast, and Portland's endlessly inventive food scene

Oregon, United States·May 15, 2024

I've been through Oregon on multiple road trips — most recently in September 2023, after earlier visits in 2023 and 2020 — and each time the state covers more ground than I expected. The driving distances are genuinely large. Oregon is bigger than the UK, and the landscape varies from ancient rainforest near the coast to sagebrush desert east of the Cascades, with a row of volcanic peaks in between that define the state's interior geography.

The Oregon Coast is the starting point for most people coming from the south or west, and it deserves the reputation. Pacific Coast Highway here has nothing of the manicured California quality; the coast is wild, rocky, frequently foggy, and entirely itself. Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. The sea stacks at Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor. Crater Lake — the collapsed caldera filled with the deepest, bluest water in North America — which is technically inland but impossible to omit from any Oregon itinerary.

The Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge east of Portland is a 80-mile canyon cut by the Columbia River through the Cascades, with basalt walls rising 4,000 feet and a density of waterfalls along the Historic Columbia River Highway that makes it feel almost implausibly scenic. Multnomah Falls — 620 feet, the second-tallest year-round waterfall in the United States — is the famous one, but the corridor has dozens of others, smaller and less visited, requiring only moderate effort to find.

Oregon coast with sea stacks and Pacific Ocean waves at Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock
The Oregon coast at Cannon Beach. Haystack Rock has been standing in these waves for roughly 15 million years. The fog is included.

Portland

Portland is the city the rest of Oregon uses as a reference point and the city that most visitors use as a base. It is a particular kind of American city: progressive, food-obsessed, cycling-centric, with a neighbourhood structure (Pearl District, Alberta Arts District, Hawthorne, Mississippi Avenue) that rewards walking. The food scene — Powell's Books' entire city block of used and new books, the coffee culture, the food cart pods distributed through every neighbourhood — is one of the best in the country for its size.

But Portland is also increasingly the point of entry for the rest of Oregon, and it's worth using it that way: a night to recover, then out into the gorge, the coast, the mountains, the high desert. The state is the destination; the city is the door.

Oregon

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Oregon coast sea stacks. The Pacific coast here is wilder and less managed than California; better for it.
Oregon coast sea stacks. The Pacific coast here is wilder and less managed than California; better for it.
Multnomah Falls. 620 feet; the Historic Columbia River Highway was built partly to provide access to views like this.
Multnomah Falls. 620 feet; the Historic Columbia River Highway was built partly to provide access to views like this.
Columbia River Gorge. The river cut through the Cascades; the result is a canyon with 80 miles of basalt walls.
Columbia River Gorge. The river cut through the Cascades; the result is a canyon with 80 miles of basalt walls.
Crater Lake. A collapsed volcanic caldera, the water this shade of blue because of its depth and purity.
Crater Lake. A collapsed volcanic caldera, the water this shade of blue because of its depth and purity.
Oregon Cascades. The volcanic peaks define the state's interior geography; they are visible from both sides.
Oregon Cascades. The volcanic peaks define the state's interior geography; they are visible from both sides.
Portland food cart pod. The food carts are distributed through every neighbourhood; find one, order something.
Portland food cart pod. The food carts are distributed through every neighbourhood; find one, order something.
Oregon high desert east of the mountains. The landscape east of the Cascades is a different state entirely.
Oregon high desert east of the mountains. The landscape east of the Cascades is a different state entirely.
Historic Columbia River Highway. The road was built in 1916 for scenic driving; it still works for exactly that.
Historic Columbia River Highway. The road was built in 1916 for scenic driving; it still works for exactly that.
Old growth Douglas fir. The ancient rainforest coast section of Oregon contains trees that are 500 years old.
Old growth Douglas fir. The ancient rainforest coast section of Oregon contains trees that are 500 years old.
Haystack Rock at low tide. The tidal pools around the base are full; the rock itself is a nesting colony.
Haystack Rock at low tide. The tidal pools around the base are full; the rock itself is a nesting colony.
Oregon coast fog. The fog is a permanent feature on this coast; it makes the sea stacks look medieval.
Oregon coast fog. The fog is a permanent feature on this coast; it makes the sea stacks look medieval.
Bend, Oregon. The high desert city on the east side of the Cascades — the other Oregon that most visitors miss.
Bend, Oregon. The high desert city on the east side of the Cascades — the other Oregon that most visitors miss.
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Written by

Yavuz

Travel writer and photographer obsessed with slow travel, local food, and the roads less taken. Based wherever the next flight lands.